wisewords
HAPPY PARENTS HAPPY KIDS
Renée Peterson Trudeau Explores
Soulful Parenting by Meredith Montgomery
T
he oldest of seven Montessori-inspired children and mother
of one, Renée Peterson Trudeau serves as a life balance coach, speaker and president of Career Strategists, a coaching and consulting fi rm. Thousands of women in 10 countries participate in Personal Renewal Groups based on her fi rst book, The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal. Now, in a new book, Nurturing the Soul of Your Family, Trudeau helps empower families to handle the challenges of everyday life with harmony and ease.
How can individuals achieve more peace? We realize peace by nurturing our hearts and souls with self-care, by slowing down and being gentle with ourselves.
It requires us to attune and respond to our own needs and desires in the present moment. Am I responding with compassion when I make mistakes? Am I saying no when I need to say no? Did I ask for and receive help when I needed it? This is self-care in day-to-day life. When we feel nurtured in ways aligned with our deeper needs, we’re able to
more fully express our potential and relax into being who we truly are.
How does such caring show up in family dynamics? When I’m feeling grumpy or irritable, I know that my inner cup is empty and I’m out of sync with my needs. When we practice self-care, we are more present with our partner and children. We feel more generous, loving and
playful, and it’s easier to weather crises and uncertainties. I believe that modeling self-love is one of the best ways to infl uence children’s self-esteem.
Why is it important for families to defi ne what they value most? It’s empowering for a family to anchor together around one key core value. Once you identify it, you all can make more conscious decisions. The value that my own family has chosen is compassion for one’s self and others. Creativity, spirituality, service or learning are others. As kids grow into adolescence, it becomes more challenging to maintain balance; there are so many demands on a family’s time and attention. Mentally, we’re often overwhelmed by an expanding scope of activities and decisions. At any age, a lot of us are just reacting to whatever comes at us. But when we identify the values most important to us, it’s easier to know when to say yes and no to things, so that our actions become aligned with our priorities.
What is behind the rising appeal of living more simply? Simplicity is alluring at a most basic level of our being; we crave it. We want to invest less energy in making decisions and have more space for life to organically unfold. We want to hit the pause button because we are overscheduled, overworked and
Interactive Seminar/Workshop Friday, September 27: 7 to 10 pm Saturday, September 28: 9 am to 5 pm
Cost: $149 (Friday night only: $49) Location: First Unity Campus Sanctuary 460 46th Avenue North, St. Petersburg FL
For more information or to register visit
WingsBookstore.com. Tickets also available by phone (727) 522-6657 or in person at Wings Bookstore, 4500 4th Street North, St Petersburg.
32 Central Florida natural awakenings
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